All About Health

On Tuesday, Monroe County Health Director Dr. Andrew Doniger held a news conference announcing four more opportunities for county residents to receive the H1N1 vaccine. It was evident that some of the reporters had some personal questions. One recounted having the flu in the fall. Was the H1N1 vaccine still warranted? Yes, Doniger replied. Even if you had flulike symptoms, unless a test determined that the bug was H1N1, get the shot. Another wanted to know if the seasonal flu vaccine would be good enough. Only for the seasonal flu, was the doctor’s reply. Maybe next year H1N1 will be mixed with the seasonal vaccine so we’ll need only one shot. Another question was how long the immunity lasts. Four to six months was the answer. It was almost like he was hanging out his shingle. Of course, our questions are your questions, which is why we were there and Doniger sat at the head of the table. You all couldn’t make it, so we were your proxy. Hopefully, we all asked the questions that you wanted the answers to.

Which brings me to another point. If you have a question or an idea, let me know. I’ll see what kind of answer I can get.

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About this blog

Patti Singer

Health Reporter

Being healthy means that you’ll be in good shape if you get sick. That may sound odd, but think about it. We may not be able to prevent every illness, but if we can delay it, minimize it and recover quickly, we can get back to our lives. That’s the beauty of a healthy lifestyle – what I call wellness insurance.

I’m fascinated by how we define health and what we do to achieve and keep that physical, emotional and spiritual sense.

I used to be a sports writer. I joined the Democrat and Chronicle in 1985 to write about the Rochester Red Wings and wouldn’t trade that experience for an infinite number of first-round draft choices. I moved from sports to features in 1991, and wrote about personal health, travel and general topics. I joined the metro staff in July 2009 to focus on health.

I am certified as a personal trainer and I earned a master’s degree in education from The College at Brockport, where I teach an undergrad course in contemporary health issues and a grad course in health communication.